Cake:Mix all ingredients, pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake at 200 degrees for 45 minutes. When the cake has cooled, cut it horizontally into three layers (Tip: Easier to cut the cake if you bake it the day before. ).

Spread some jam over the first layer of the cake.

For the chocolate cream filling: Whip the 750 ml soy whipped cream with the 3 packs of cream fix. Melt the 100 g chocolate in a pan over warm water. Stir the chocolate into 200 g of the whipped cream.

Spread this over the jam on the first layer. Distribute some of the cherries over the chocolate. The second layer will be filled with 250 g of soy whipped cream. I put some cherries on this layer too. Then place the top layer of the cake over this and spread the remaining whipped cream over the top and the sides. (Leave a little bit for the final decoration). Sprinkle the sides with the dark chocolate sprinkles, and the top with the chocolate shavings. Decorate the top with soy whipped cream rosettes which you finish with half cherries. Chill it for few hours. It will make 12 to 16 slices.

One of the best things about autumn is that Brussels sprouts come into season. Here is my fav soup to make with them:

I chop up

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

2-3 carrots

3-4 tomatoes

and any other vegetables that you feel like,

and add

300-500 grams of Brussels sprouts. (I go for the more option normally).

I boil water, add 2 cubes of veg stock and all the vegetables, cook for about 20 minutes. I like to make it a thick soup, a bit like minestrone. You may want to jazz it up with some olive oil, but this is great without that too.

for 3-4 persons. Taken from Dunja Gulin’s Raw food kitchen, slightly changed. (This author has no problem with eating animals or by-products of their exploitation.).

Clean mushrooms and slice them thinly. Marinate them in the mixture of the soy sauce and lemon juice.

Put the oats and warm water in a bowl and knead for a few minutes. Add the remaining ingredients for the base and knead until the mixture binds together. Cut two 35 cm sheets of baking parchment and place the dough ball in the middle of one. Cover with the other sheet and flatten the dough with a rolling pin into a circel about 26 cm across. Discard the top sheet, transfer to a plate and let stand for 15 minutes.

For the topping, seed the plum tomatoes. Cut 150g / 5 oz. Into very small dices, add a pinch of salt, after a few minutes pat them drz on kitchen paper. Put aside.

Chop the remaining tomatoes, the sun-dried tomatoes and capers and blend in the food processor with the agave, oregano, 1 tbsp oil and 1 teaspoon of the vinegar. This is the best pizza sauce ever!

Drain the cashews well and put them in a food processor with the onion, the remaining lemon juice, vinegar and oil. Blend until smooth.

Spread the pizza sauce over the pizza base. Use a teaspoon to cover the sauce with dollops of cashew mixture. Scatter the reserved diced tomatoes and the marinated mushrooms over the top. Finish with some dried oregano, black pepper, fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. I doubt that it will though :). Thank you for this rawsome recipe, Ms Gulin!

Yet another Hungarian classic. The recipe seems to be longish, but actually it is a very easy and delicious dish. I took the basic recipe from a cookbook of Napfényes restaurant (Title: Napfényes receptek 3. If you understand Hungarian, I highly recommend it! This little cheap booklet is full of great tips for beginner vegans about how to substitute non-vegan foods, and the recipes are just amazing!)

INGREDIENTS:

1000 g sauerkraut (soured cabbage; I used raw which I bought in Urban Bio,Geneva)

2 onions, finally chopped

chopped vegetables that you like to make about 300 ml veggie paprika stew (I’ve used 1 tomato and 3 zucchinis)

vegan sour crème/crème fraiche (I’ve used Soyananda, that you can buy in most health stores inGeneva. It is incredibly good!

Veggie paprika stew

Saute the onions in a pan with about 2 tbsp oil. When they are kind of transparent (but not burned), take the pan off the stove, and sprinkle about 1 tbsp paprika on top. Mix. Add the veggies and put them back to medium-law heat. Add a little water to make some sauce. Cook until the veggies are tender. Puree in a blender.

The layering part

Mix the boiled rice, garlic, herbs and seitan. Put the soured cabbage in a sieve to get rid of the excess liquid. (The best is to drink it: it is full of vitamin C and it is so yummy!). Divide it into two parts. The first part goes into an oiled ovenproof dish. Sprinkle paprika and ground bayleaf on top. Next, put the rice-seitan mixture. Then the second layer of cabbage. Finally pour over the veggie paprika stew liquid, and bake it in a preheated oven on medium heat. (I cooked it on 150 degrees Celsius. About 40 minutes, but if you make half the portion, only 20 minutes).

Inspiral, the fab vegan and raw vegan restaurant in London, Camden Lock has the most wonderfully moist brownies that I have ever eaten. I was trying to create something similar. The result was very different from what I had aimed for, but still, it was very yummy. This recipe is for about 6 small portions.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup oil

1 cup maple syrup

¼ cup plant based milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whole meal flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven for 170 degrees Celsius. Mix the dry ingredients, and then add the liquids. Pour the mixture into muffin forms or into an oiled and floured dish. Bake for about 15-25 minutes, depending on how gooey you like it.

Ask your grandparents, and most probably they will tell you that when they were young, they did not have meat every day. Maybe once a week, on Sunday. It was not different in Hungary either, and this hearty cole (savoy cabbage) soup must have been one of the meat free dishes they had. I love it in itself, or with a tofu sausage.

You will need:

1 savoy cabbage (cole) (600-800 grams) washed, cut into small chunks

300 grams potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks

1 small onion grated or finely chopped

ground cumin, paprika, marjoram, salt, pepper

2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons of olive oil

cold water

Pour hot water over the cabbage to shrink the leaves. Then place it in a pot with the potatoes and water and boil until soft. (About 25 minutes). In the meanwhile pour oil in a pan over medium heat, saute onion, and slowly add flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. Then slowly add cold water, and keep on stirring.You should get a smooth texture without lumps. This is what we will use to thicken the soup. When the cabbage and the potatoes are soft, add this floury mixture and stir well to avoid any lumps. Add salt and herbs to taste. Give it another 10 minutes on the heat. Serve it as a soup or as a main course.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Rome. While there, many natives told me about their passion for these large green beans. Somehow I never tried them then, but recently our local cooperative has surprised us with large quantities of fave beans, and I finally had the opportunity to try them and I have become a huge fun as well.

You will need:

500 g fave beans (can be less)

pasta for 4 persons (I used penne)

vegetable stock

vegan cheese, grated

ground pepper

extra virgin olive oil

This is how I make them:

I take the beans out of the pod and then take off the outer shell of the beans. It does take some time, but I find it relaxing. You can watch TV in the meantime if it bores you. Cook the beans in the vegetable stock for 20 minutes. Boil the pasta in the meantime, and when it is ready, mix in the beans, add a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil, pepper and salt to taste. I like to grate vegan cheese on top. (Cheddar style Cheezely).

I imagine that this old time Hungarian favorite will be a shock to my Italian readers. All I can say is: try, and judge for yourself. I think it is fantastic, and it is super fast. All you do is you boil the pasta, (I used wholewheat farfalle), saute some shredded cabbage (a small one will do for 4 people) in oil. You may add some sugar for a caramelized flavor. I used a little bit of maple syrup. Serve with freshly ground pepper on top.

Sautée the cabbage. Using all the other ingredients, make the dough, and mix in the cabbage. Flatten it, fold several times, than flatten it to the height you would like your scones to be (e.g. 1.5 cm) and make shapes with a cookie cutter, or just cut into small cubes. I baked them in an oven which was preheated to 180 Celsius for about 15 minutes (probe if they are ready). I made 34 scones, but it would depend on the size of the cookie cutter.

It is my birthday and since I don’t know any vegan bakeries in Geneva, I had to make my own bday cake. I have to say it was amazing! And MANY THANKS to Mattie for the basic recipe. I changed it a little bit. For example I used maple syrup instead of sugar, and changed the quantities a bit to match my 250 ml tub of silken tofu. No need to bake and I have to say, that Mattie is right: the most difficult part in making this delicious wheat-free cake is that you have to wait 4 hours to set! I used:

180 ml melted coconut oil

250 ml silken tofu

half a cup maple syrup (you may want to use more if you like it sweet)

So you get your hand mixer, and blend everything together in the order that they are listed. Pour it into your form, put it into the fridge, and start making dinner or do something to take your mind off this yummy stuff. And when the time is up, you can take it out, loosen the edges with a knife, and carefully put the cake on your serving plate. Decorate and devour!